Dorothy Westerman
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 16/05) - Volunteers are critical to the success of community events in the North, according to Aggie Brockman, co-ordinator of Volunteer NWT.

"So little would be happening in our communities," she said, underlining the importance of volunteers to every public event in the Northwest Territories.

Aggie Brockman, co-ordinator of Volunteer NWT, prepares a thank you gift of a water bottle to recent participants in a photo contest. Volunteer NWT will staff an information booth Dec. 5 in Centre Square Mall. - Dorothy Westerman/NNSL photo

"There is all the invisible stuff that informal volunteers do, like giving the bowl of soup to someone ill or shovelling someone's sidewalk," Brockman said.

A territorial government survey found that about 50 per cent of residents aged 15 years and older had volunteered in the last year.

Brockman said it's a Northerner tradition to lend a helping hand.

"People depend on each other and they help each other, knowing that they may need some help themselves or have been helped in the past by someone," she said.

Bill Othmer, manager of Sport North Federation said "volunteers are our backbone.

"They are essential in ensuring that the programs and services are delivered."

Sport North volunteers contributed 51,051 volunteer hours this year, Othmer said.

That translates into $1.175 million in donated time to Sport North.

Volunteer NWT is inviting the public to stop by their information booth Dec. 5 at Centre Square Mall.

The booth, marking International Volunteer Day, will explain the role of Volunteer NWT.

"We've also invited other interested groups to participate to raise the awareness of what they do and who they are," she said.

"They can also recruit volunteers if they need them," Brockman said.